Cheerios New Author Contest

Have you ever thought about writing a children's book. You love children, and you have something to teach them. Well, here is your chance. The annual Cheerios New Authors Contest is about to get underway, and they are desperately seeking the next talented children's book author. You could be the author they are searching for.

Cheerios Spoonful of Stories Program

The Annual New Author Contest is part of the Cheerios Spoonful of Stories program. The contest was part of the Spoonful of Stories program, ever since the program began nine years ago. The Cheerios Spoonful of Stories teemed up with Simon & Shuster to distribute millions of books to needy children. Since the program's inception nine years ago, Cheerios has given away over 9 million books in boxes of Cheerios cereal. Cheerios has also donated over $3.5 million to First Book to help get books into the hands of children from low-income families.

A Contest for First Time Authors Only

The contest rules are abundantly clear about who the contest is for, it is for the first time author—no professional writers need to submit. All published writers will be disqualified. Publishing on sites like Wikinut or Factoidz will not disqualify you, but if you write for a WFH (Work For Hire) site or are paid a salary to write for an online site will disqualify you. Having published short stories or articles in print publications will disqualify you.

The lucky winner

This contest is the unpublished writers chance to break into print. Unlike most contests of this type, there is no entry fee. Every year, the best story, is printed by Simon & Shuster and placed in millions of Cheerios cereal boxes and the author receives a $5000 cash award as the Grand Prize. The authors of the two next best stories will receive a $1000 each. The author of the winning story also has an opportunity to have his or her story published in book form by Simon & Shuster at some future date.

Judged By First Book Volunteers

The Cheerios Spoonful of Stories would not be possible, at least not without charging an entry fee, without the First Book volunteers who read and evaluate thousands of entries every year. Each entry must be 500 words or less in length, but that is still a lot of reading for the volunteer evaluators to do. The final decision will be made by a panel of literary experts from Simon & Shuster.

What Are You Wating For?

Each electronic entry must be in by 11:59 p.m. Central Time, July 15, 2011. you can enter as many 500 word children short stories as you like, but you can only enter each story once. Fill out the online entry form now, it is quick and easy. This is your chance of fulfilling your dream of becoming a children's book author.

Meet the author

Jerry WalchJerry Walch is a 71 year old freelance writer for hire living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He has been writing since the late 1970s, and writes for both the print and online media. He specializes in

Nan Joe I thought of that when I thought about doing this article but I decided that because our American members are growing. I also felt that it was worth doing because it shows how big businesses are joining together to help the needy in the States.

Darn, it!, Don't live in the U.S. of A Jerry, I do hope that you and DeniseO give it a shot though, especially when you get started on your great animal stories. Great read thank you, you had the creative juices going there for me just then.

I would be disqualified Tranquilpen because I have been published in traditional print media. I published my first magazine article over thirty-five years ago. I'm trying to persuade my wife, a retired schoolteacher, to have a go at this contest. She has never been published anywhere. The problem with that is that she feels intimidated by my being a published writer in print as well as online.

Jerry, I didn't enter this last year. I had written a lot of stories but, they just did not feel right. So I am now entering this years contest, that just started in August. I have already been working on some stories and getting very excited about taking that leap. I do feel I am ready to at least try and win a writing contest. Have a great day. Denise:)

Thank you Jerry. Will do! That is, if I make it through this next batch of bad weather we are having. I have Bugg, Tee and I's stuff in my tornado bag, so I am able to run down stairs, if need be. Well it has taken me more than a minute to get this message to come through. I think my computer is going down because of the storms. Well I must stop computer work for the day. Have a wonderful day my friend.:)

Hello Jerry, (my brother's name also.) Well, I saw you over at Denise's page and wanted to check out your posts. I think I need to stay at yours and Denise's pages for a long time, JK. You wrote, "first time author—" (That fits me for sure.) Thank you. Nice meeting you around here at Wiki-nut! I will be back later for more reading. Happy New Years to you!Smiles, Bets

i think its great you have a contest for new authors. i have three stories i would like to submit in the next ,cheerios spoonfull of stories contest. would you please tell when the next contest will start, & how to submit these to you ? thank you, i look forward to hearing from you. randall bradeen. (:

Sadly, I'm not a U.S Resident so it's not possible for me to enter something like this. I do know of this site called Tallenge which is a great alternative and has no geographic limitations, so anyone who's interested can take a look at it and participate.